It was interesting to be asked on Radio Five Live today, as their tech and AI expert, for my take on the news that the UK government in investing £187 million into AI education for the next generation.
This marks a watershed moment for British classrooms. After years of watching other nations surge ahead, Britain has finally awakened to the reality that artificial intelligence isn't just the future of work—it's the present reality our children must navigate. Heck, this reality is one of the reasons I started the non for profit The AI Teacher Course with Janine Atkin.
But while this investment deserves applause, the sobering truth is we're playing catch-up in a race where standing still means falling catastrophically behind.
The Promise and the Reality
The government's "TechFirst" programme promises to reach 1 million secondary school students across three years, bringing AI and digital skills training to every corner of the UK. The flagship "TechYouth" strand, backed by £24 million, will create local delivery partnerships across all UK regions, while an expanded online platform builds on the existing CyberFirst Explorers programme that already reaches 100,000 students. It's an ambitious vision that recognizes the scale of transformation needed. For this the Fifth Industrial Revolution.
Yet when we examine this investment against the backdrop of Britain's total education spending—£116 billion annually—the £187 million represents just 0.16% of our education budget. For a nation that aspires to be an "AI superpower," this feels more like cautious optimism than the revolutionary leap we need.
The Global AI Education Arms Race
While Britain deliberates, our international competitors are sprinting. China has made AI a compulsory subject for all primary and secondary students from September 2025, embedding robotics, algorithmic thinking, and machine learning into every young mind. South Korea has invested £760 million in teacher training alone, deploying AI-powered digital textbooks that adapt in real-time to each student's needs.
The contrasts grow starker when we look beyond education spending to broader AI commitments. The UAE has made a jaw-dropping investment, providing every one of its 1.4 million citizens and residents with free access to ChatGPT Plus—a £300 million commitment that signals their determination to become an AI-first society.
Singapore's SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme offers £300 monthly allowances for AI training, specifically targeting over-40s professionals who risk being left behind by technological change.
The global AI education market is exploding—valued at $2.5 billion in 2022, projected to reach $88.2 billion by 2032—yet we're investing a fraction of what's needed. Meanwhile, as I discuss in my keynotes for business, 66% of leaders say they wouldn't hire someone without AI skills, and a lack of skilled workers is the biggest challenge for enterprises implementing AI technology.
The Scale of Britain's Challenge
The statistics paint a picture of a nation caught between ambition and hesitation. With 92% of UK undergraduates now using AI in some form—up from 66% in just one year—our students are clearly embracing these technologies.
Yet only 36% have received institutional support to develop AI skills, creating a dangerous gap between usage and understanding. Even more concerning, 45% of current university students had already used AI while at school, highlighting how unprepared our education system has been for this revolution.
The situation in our schools is equally stark. A quarter of children aged 11-17 use AI tools to complete schoolwork, with ChatGPT and Snapchat's My AI being the most popular platforms. Yet 82.5% of UK universities have investigated students for AI-related cheating—Birmingham City University alone reported 402 cases between 2022-24. This isn't a technological problem; it's an education gap.
Our workforce faces an even steeper challenge. Research commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology projects that by 2035, around 10 million UK workers will have AI as part of their role, with 3.9 million working directly in AI. Given that we currently have 33.9 million employed people, this means nearly 30% of our workforce needs AI literacy within a decade.
Are we really doing enough train THIS generation of workers - let alone the next one...
The AI sector itself tells a story of tremendous potential constrained by skills shortages. Valued at £72.3 billion and projected to exceed £800 billion by 2035, it's growing 30 times faster than the rest of the economy. Yet according to TechNation, one in three UK tech founders cite talent availability as their biggest barrier to growth.
Learning from Global Leaders
Estonia's AI Leap 2025 initiative provides 20,000 high school students and 3,000 teachers with AI-powered tools, while Finland's Elements of AI course has reached over 1.2 million participants. Hong Kong mandates 10-14 hours of AI education for junior secondary students, and Australia has approved a National Framework for Generative AI in Schools with comprehensive pilot programmes.
These nations understand what we're slowly grasping: AI education isn't a luxury for the tech-savvy few—it's basic literacy for the many. This is the Fifth Industrial Revolution around Intelligence. They're treating AI skills like reading and writing, essential tools for navigating an increasingly digital world.
The Investment Imperative
Britain's £187 million investment, while significant, pales beside the scale of transformation required. Microsoft's research suggests that prompt investment in digital technologies and skills could deliver a 5:1 return on investment over the next decade—meaning every extra pound spent could generate five pounds of economic growth. The same research warns that delaying AI roll-out could cost the UK £150 billion by 2035.
Yet we're not just competing against economic forecasts—we're racing against student expectations and workforce reality. Almost all higher education institutions (99.4%) surveyed say AI will be central to their competitiveness, while teachers report that students who initially relied heavily on AI for assignments experienced declining grades, forcing them to re-evaluate their approach entirely. This isn't about restricting technology; it's about teaching students how to use it effectively.
The evidence for well-implemented AI education is compelling. Stanford University's AI program helped students avoid "wheel spinning" when stuck on problems, while the University of Murcia's AI chatbot correctly answered 91% of student questions. Knewton's adaptive learning platform improved test scores by 62%, and Ivy Tech Community College saved 3,000 students from failing using AI-powered early intervention systems.
We need to think bigger. The government's own AI Opportunities Action Plan acknowledges we need "world-class computing and data infrastructure, access to talent and regulation." The recent announcement that UK AI attracts £200 million per day in private investment shows the sector's vitality, but it also highlights how much more we could be doing if our workforce were properly prepared.
A Call for Urgency
The government deserves credit for recognizing that AI education cannot remain an afterthought. The £187 million represents genuine commitment, and the goal of training 7.5 million UK workers in AI skills by 2030 through industry partnerships with NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft shows admirable ambition.
But ambition must match the magnitude of change ahead. Students are already telling us what they need: 98% of teachers believe students require education about ethical AI use, while students themselves want clear, practical support rather than restrictive policies. They understand that AI isn't going away—92% of students now use it daily for everything from study support to job applications. The question isn't whether to embrace AI in education, but how quickly we can do it properly.
We need to ask ourselves: is 0.16% of our education budget sufficient when other nations are treating AI literacy as a fundamental right? Can we afford to train just 1 million secondary students over three years when China is making AI compulsory for all students immediately? When 73% of education experts believe AI use will increase dramatically, and when our own students report feeling anxious about keeping up with rapid AI developments?
The answer is clear.
We need not just investment, but investment at scale. We need not just programmes, but programmes that reach every student, every teacher, every worker who risks being left behind by the Fifth Industrial Revolution.
Britain has taken the first crucial step by acknowledging that AI education matters. It's why we started The AI Teacher Course. Now we must take the second: ensuring our investment matches the scale of transformation ahead. Our economic future, our children's opportunities, and our place in the global AI race depend on it.
The question isn't whether we can afford to invest more in AI education—it's whether we can afford not to.
About The Author:
Keynote speaker, professional speaker, Ted X talker, serial tech startup founder, ex marketing agency owner, digital trainer, and now author and media spokesperson Dan Sodergren’s main area of interest is the future of work, technology, data and AI In his spare time, as well as being a dad, which comes first, Dan is a digital marketing and technology (and now AI) expert for TV shows and the BBC and countless radio shows.
Occasionally donning the cape of consumer champion on shows like BBC WatchDog, the One Show and RipOffBritain and being a marketing tech specialist for SuperShoppers and RealFakeAndUnknown and BBC Breakfast.
He is also a host and guest on podcasts and webinars speaking as a tech futurist. And a remote reporter / content creator for tech companies at tech events and shows.
His main interest is in the future. Be that the future of marketing, or the future or work or how AI and technology will change the world for the better as part of the #FifthIndustrialRevolution.
Find out more about him here bit.ly/DanSodergren
Sources:
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Websites:
https://www.aiteachercourse.com/